Department Stores in Austria

PROSPECTS

The channel remains small within overall retailing, associated with luxury shopping

In 2019, department stores continued to play only a minor role in retailing in Austria, with most consumers favouring shopping centres. Steffl in Vienna and the Kastner & Öhler flagship store in Graz remained the only outlets meeting the narrower definition of a department store in terms of sales area and product mix.

Rising consumer interest and chain expansion to accelerate sales growth

Department stores registered healthy current value growth in Austria in 2019 and is expected to record a good performance throughout the forecast period. The channel is anticipated to benefit from increasing consumer confidence and strong demand for the unique shopping experience it offers, including large arrays of products, exceptional levels of customer service and sophisticated shop designs.

Signa unveils ambitious conversion plans for new department store

Signa Retail GmbH has specified its plans to replace its newly acquired Leiner furniture store at the highly frequented Mariahilferstraße in Vienna city centre with a department store in the style of KaDeWe in Berlin, another brand owned by Signa Retail. KaDeWe in Berlin is the largest department store in continental Europe with more than 100 years’ history.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Kastner & Öhler ranks first, led by its famous anchor store

Kastner & Öhler Warenhaus AG retained its dominance of department stores in Austria in 2019, being responsible for 16 of the 17 outlets present. Sales per outlet were relatively low in the case of Kastner & Öhler, because, in a narrow sense, the company’s main store in Graz is its only fully fledged department store.

Infected goes from department to stand-alone store

Both Kastner & Öhler and Steffl usually do not engage in major innovations but rather emphasise their long history and their unique positioning in order to attract new customers and keep existing ones returning. A surprisingly original brand is Infected, a store concept by Kastner & Öhler targeting specifically a younger audience under 30 years old.

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